Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to depict extremely complex interactions between components of freight distribution systems using an accessibility analysis based on an aggregate approach, rather than cumbersome simulations of all possible tours, customers, and deliveries. Urban Freight Transport is a continuously growing market mainly based on the use of vehicles with combustion engines, whose environmental impact has become unsustainable. Because of the technological improvement of electric vehicles and their growing economic feasibility, the introduction of electric fleets for urban freight distribution is now a considerable opportunity. Cities are rapidly adapting, in need of tools to properly guide and manage these changes, as the rise of electric vehicles must be encouraged by an appropriate infrastructural system, from charging stations to dedicated areas. What is proposed in this work is an aggregate approach to the freight system, transport demand and supply, to support the design of a distribution system based on electric vehicles by means of an accessibility indicator that takes into account the supply of facilities, vehicle performances, and freight demand patterns. To view and appreciate the potentialities of this approach, a study case about the Metropolitan City of Rome is also presented.